MEcon Specialisation Areas

Building on the core courses, the core elective courses offers five specialisations areas, targeting different interests of students and enhances their job market profiles.

Innovation and globalization create new opportunities, but also threaten jobs and earnings of others. Inequality gets larger. Ageing challenges pension and health systems. Climate change threatens the quality of life. Education and public infrastructure must catch up to support new technologies, and governments must rethink their role in the economy. What is required more than ever are public policies based on sound theory and empirical evidence. Read here an example how you could structure your studies in the field of public policy.

Jobs: Typical jobs requiring a public policy expertize are in government institutions, OECD, industry organizations, labour unions or independent think tanks. Research institutes specialized in public sector economics, social security, or related fields are key employers (e.g. Institute of Fiscal Studies in London, KOF in Zürich, Ifo in Munich, ZEW in Mannheim, IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, etc.).

In order to graduate as a Master in Economics with a declared specialisation in Public Policy, students need to gain at least 16 ECTS from the courses listed below and write their master’s thesis in the area of Public Policy.

Innovative firms go global and grow large. Consumers import what foreigners do better. Investment and jobs flow from declining to growing sectors, in which productivity is high and perspectives for jobs and wages are better. Specialization and trade help to become rich by focusing on what a country can do best. However, trade and innovation can also lead to inequality. How can we share the gains from trade widely? Read here an example how you could structure your studies in the field of Global Economy.

Jobs: Ambitious students aim for a job with reputable international organizations such as IMF, World Bank and WTO which source new talent from many good universities and require strong skills in theory and evidence based policy analysis. Economic research institutes (KOF, Ifo, DIW, ZEW etc.) are also on the agenda. Many alumni go to private sector firms and domestic policy institutions, who value their analytical and quantitative skills.

In order to graduate as a Master in Economics with a declared specialisation in Global Economy, students need to gain at least 16 ECTS from the courses listed below and write their master’s thesis in the area of Global Economy.

Managers and entrepreneurs can make a real difference if their incentives are right. Boards must design executive compensation and provide oversight and control. Personnel economics informs successful hiring and human resources development. Corporate finance analyses the best use of capital within and across firms. To stay ahead of rivals, firms need not only R&D but also clever strategic decision-making informed by game theory. Read here an example how you could structure your studies in the field of Managerial Economics.

Jobs: Many MEcon alumni accept challenging jobs in consulting and in various management positions. Leading consulting firms are highly interested in well-trained economists who combine strong quantitative skills with good intuition and clever strategic thinking. A specialization in managerial economics also prepares for jobs offered by policy institutions such as competition authorities, industry organizations, government agen-cies dealing with innovation, digitization and other business related programs.

In order to graduate as a Master in Economics with a declared specialisation in Managerial Economics, students need to gain at least 16 ECTS from the courses listed below and write their master’s thesis in the area of Managerial Economics.

Households borrow to buy homes and choose portfolios to achieve the preferred trade-off between risk and return in savings. Firms need to raise equity and to draw on a credit to finance investment. Governments issue public debt. Insurance and pension funds diversify risks and invest to finance retirement income. When there is a financial crisis, the economy is in real trouble. Banking and capital market regulation must reduce individual and macroeco-nomic risk, thereby creating stability. Read here an example how you could structure your studies in the field of Financial Economics.

Jobs: MEcon alumni often pick up jobs in banking and wealth management companies. Some join the insurance industry and others accept job offers by central banks such as the SNB or the ECB in Frankfurt. Analyst positions in big banks as well as treasury positions in large multinational firms are another opportunity. Finally, international organizations such as the IMF or from government and regulatory institutions (FINMA, BIS in Basel, the European ESM etc.) also offers jobs for graduates with a sound training in economics and finance.

In order to graduate as a Master in Economics with a declared specialisation oin Financial Economics, students need to gain at least 16 ECTS from the courses listed below and write their master’s thesis in the area of Financial Economics.

Digitization and the abundance of data transform the world. Firms reinvent their business models, global trade shifts into the internet, and governments find new ways to interact with citizens. How can machine learning and econometrics make data more useful? How can firms and governments find individualized solutions? How does digital trade change competition? The data driven future requires new skills. MEcon students are in the lead. Read here an example how you could structure your studies in the field of Digitization and Data Analytics.

Jobs requiring extensive digital and data skills are on offer in all areas of the economy including private sector firms, consulting firms, financial industry, government institutions, research institutes and academics. The skilled analysis of large data sets and the digital transformation offer hot research topics for a PhD study as well.

In order to graduate as a Master in Economics with a declared specialisation in Digitization and Data Analytics, students need to gain at least 16 ECTS from the courses listed belwo and write their master’s thesis in the area of Digitization and Data Analytics.